Achievement

"Biomedical Applications of Colloidal Nanocrystals", developed as a special topics course under this IGERT program and recently institutionalized by the University of New Mexico as a regular interdisciplinary graduate-level course cross-listed between Electrical & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Sciences, and Nanoscience & Microsystems, was offered in Spring 2011 for the first time as a regular course. The course has an innovative format and is co-taught by two instructors with science/engineering and cell biology/neuroscience expertise. Experts are invtoed to lecture about their topics, while students lead discussions of assigned papers. The course includes tours of relevant facilities on campus and at Sandia National Laboratories. Problem-based learning assignments involve both teamwork in brainstorming sessions and development of individual writing skills through written reports. All of the new INCBN IGERT Trainees selected in 2010 participated in the course, taking it for credit.